Rubber stamper with interchangeable printing blocks

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a rubber stamper in which a type block or blocks requiring frequent replacement is positioned removably within another type block or blocks infrequently replaced thereby permitting continuous stamping operation providing consistently clear marks without requiring external ink pad.

United States Patent Talw'i Funahashi No. l, 2-Chome, Kitatakaio-machi, Nishiku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan [21] Appl. No. 803,613

[72] Inventor [22] Filed Mar. 3, 1969 [45] Patented Jan. 4, 1972 [32] Priority Mar. 1, I968 J p [54] RUBBER STAMPER WITH INTERCI-IANGEABLE PRINTING BLOCKS 1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 101/327 [51] Int.Cl B41k l/08, B4lk 1/50 [50] Field of Search 101/327,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,402,663 9/ l 968 Funahashi 101/327 3,442,209 5/1969 Funahashi 101/327 Primary Examiner-J. Reed Fisher Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen ABSTRACT: This invention provides a rubber stamper in which a type block or blocks requiring frequent replacement is positioned removably within another type block or blocks infrequently replaced thereby permitting continuous stamping operation providing consistently clear marks without requiring external ink pad.

PATENTEB JAN 4 B72 SHEET 1 [IF 2 SHEET 2 OF 2 PATENTED JAH 4 B72 RUBBER STAMPER WITH INTERCIIANGEABLE PRINTING BLOCKS This invention relates to improvements in a rubber stamper and more particularly to improvements in such rubber stamper in which it is required to frequently change a type block or blocks having embossed thereon a letter(s) or a figure(s) such as dating.

Conventionally, there have been commonly used two types of rubber stampers, consisting primarily of the rotary type and typesetting type. However, the former type had a drawback in that the rotation mechanism was complicated and large in size, resulting in voluminous structure of the device, while the latter type was disadvantageous in that it required much trouble and labor in typesetting and wherein the type block or blocks were often displaced during stamping operation. Further, in both types, it was necessary, in order to effect legible stamping, to press the type block against an ink pad after each stamping so as to deposit ink on the block, thereby making it impossible to continuously carry on the stamping operation while always obtaining clear stamp marks or seals.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a rubber stamper in which a boxlike frame member defining two spaces as provided axially in the interior of the body of the stamper and in which a letteror figure-embossed block, which is rarely changed, is disposed in a generally permanent relationship within an outside space of said boxlike frame member, while another indicia-bearing printing block assembly which is often required to be changed is located demountably in the inside space of said frame member, thereby to permit continuous stamping operation with always clear marks or seals being affixed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a rubber stamper of the type as described above, in which the bottom periphery of the type block located in the outside space of said boxlike frame member is supported by a flange of a short sleeve member loosely fitted in the lower part of the body.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a multicolor stamping device of the type described in which the ink applied to the type block in the outside space of said frame member is selected to be difl'erent in color from the ink supplied to the type stems in the inside space of said frame member, thereby to provide a stamping operation which always produces clear marks.

Now, some preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the first embodiment of the present invention in which the body is formed cylindrically;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view, with some parts removed for the sake of explanation, of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view, with a part cut away, of the second embodiment of the present invention in which the body is formed rectangularly;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the embodiment 'of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded view, with some parts removed for the sake of better understanding, of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a body or casing, generally designated as l, which is formed from a material such as polyethylene produced by a medium or low pressure polymerization process. The interior of said body is formed integrally through coupling portions 2 with a boxlike frame member 3, which is substantially rectangular in section and which may be formed of the same material as said body 1. On the circumferential wall of the body 1 there is provided a raised peripheral portion 12 which engages with a flange ll of a sleeve member 11, and at the top of said body I there is provided a guide passage for a vertical slot 19 located in a short cylinder 13. A cooperative protuberance 20 is adapted to secure the short cylinder 13 to the body 1.

It will also be noted that in the inside of said cylinder body 1 and in a space 2 on the outside of said boxlike frame member 3 there is provided an ink-impregnated wad 5 made of such material as felt. A block 6 made of porous rubber or like material having continuous cells therein is attached to the end of said wad 5 through an ink regulator means 5' made of a porous material such as polyvinylforrnal resin sponge. The block 6 has formed at both lobes thereof the vertical slots 7", which are adapted to guide the coupling portions 2' of the frame member 3. Toward the bottom end of said cylinder body 1 there is provided a short sleeve member 7 having a slightly inwardly bent flange 7' and which is made of a material such as stainless steel, whereby said block 6 is supported between said ink regulator means 5' and flange 7 in such a manner that the latter or figure embossed face 6' of said block 6 is normally slightly protrudes beyond the edge of the short sleeve member 7.

Numeral 8 designates stems made of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene Resins, hereinafter designated as ASB resin or like material, which are detachably mounted in a suitable number (three in the shown embodiment) in the inside space 4 of the boxlike frame member 3. Each of said stems 8 has attached at the bottom thereof an indicia-bearing letteror figure-carved printing block 9 made of continuous cellular rubber. Above said block 9 there is provided in a continuous layer an ink-impregnated wad 10 made of a material such as polyester fiber whereby the stamping operation may be continuously performed with ink which gradually oozes out from said ink-impregnated wad l0. Numeral 8' denotes the enlarged heads of said stems, also made of ABS resin and arranged whereby when said stems 8 are inserted into the boxlike frame member 3, the faces 9' of the blocks 9 are aligned with the face 6' of the block 6.

Numerical sign 11 indicates a sleeve member of stainless steel or similar material. As will be noted, said sleeve member 11 is located outside of the body 1 and the short sleeve member 7 and has formed at'the top edge thereof a slightly inwardly extending flange II which is seated on an outwardly extending portion 12 formed around the peripheral wall of the body I. It will also be seen that a coil spring 14 made of phosphor bronze or like material is interposed between said bulged portion 12 and the shoulder 13 of a short cylindrical member 13 made of ABS resin or similar material and covered on the outside of the upper part of the body 1.

Numeral 15 denotes a grip or a cover for the body of the stamper. This grip cover 15 is fitted onto a reduced flange or rim portion at the top exteriorly of the short cylinder 13 in the manner as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It will also be noted that an elastic material 16 such as sponge rubber or urethane foam rubber is provided within the upper part of said grip cover 15 in such a manner that it presses down on the enlarged heads 8' of the stems 8 during use of the stamper. Further, numeral 17 denotes a face on which the same letter or figure as embossed on the block 9 is inscribed or suitably indicated, and 18,18 indicate the notches formed at the top edge of the short cylinder 13, said notches being aligned with the vertical slots 19 formed continuously thereunder and serving as a guide passage for the engaging protuberance 20 formed on the body 1. Namely, after the short cylinder 13 has been mounted on the body, aid cylinder is slightly rotated relative to the body 1 so that the protuberances 20 are engaged in the bottom edges of the notches l8, 18' to thereby secure the cylinder in its position.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 to 6, there is shown the second embodiment of the present invention which is similar to the first embodiment just described except for the hereinafter detailed parts and mechanisms. In the second embodiment, it will be noted that the body, generally designated by numerical reference la, is in the form of a rectangular cylinder and made of resin material such as ABS resin. The ink-impregnated wad 10a is formed of polyvinylformal resin sponge or like material, and the spring 140 is substantially X-shaped in section and made of a material such as polyacetal resin.

The invention will now be described from its operational aspect. On. the face 6' of each block 6 there is provided in relief, indicia such as the company name, address or other such letters which are rarely changed. Ink is supplied from a top opening of the boxlike frame member 3, 3 and impregnated in the wad S' so-that the block 6 disposed below said ink-impregnated wad 5, having an ink regulator 5' interposed therebetween, absorbs ink gradually and constantly in response to the liquid retaining property of the material which constitutes the block6. It is therefore possible to easily effect and, if desired, continuously maintain the stamping operation for clearly imprinting the company name, address, etc.,--cmbossed on the block face 6' while eliminating the need for using an ink pad each time the stamping sequence is effected.

0n the other hand, it is convenient to provide or engrave on the stems 8 the monthQdate or other such figures or letters which must be frequently changed. lnk is self-absorbed from an ink-impregnated wad 10 provided inside of each type stem 8, so that it is possible to effect clear imprinting on the surface of a paper or other objects. on which such imprinting is to be made, while concurrently avoiding the need for using an ink pad every time the stamping operation is made. When it is desired to change any of the type blocks 9, it is only necessary to grasp the enlarged head 8 of the particular block and pull it out from the assembly in order to replace it with a desired different one, which is then inserted into the boxlike frame member 3 in such a manner that the new stem is aligned with the type face of the block 6 and capped with an associated enlarged head 8. It is also possible in the present invention to use inks of different colors for the type block 6 and the stems 8, whereby clear multicolored imprinting may be obtained. ln this connection, it should be noted that the boxlike frame member 3 is perfectly separated from the block 6 as well as from the stems 8, so that there is no fear of possibility of the mixture of the various inks resulting in the spoiling of the prints or stamps.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rubber stamper, the combination of a casing comprising an open-ended boxlike frame member defining two essentially coplanar spaces within the confines of said casing, a first one of said spaces comprising an interior space within said frame member, the second space comprising an outer space encompassing at least part of said interior space and separated therefrom by the walls of said boxlike frame member, an inkimpregnated wad and associated indicia bearing printing block means positioned in said outer space, sleeve means encompassing and connected to the open end of said frame member, said sleeve means including an inwardly extending peripheral flange adapted to engage the bottom edge of said printing block means so as to maintain the latter and said wad within said outer space, and a plurality of ink-containing hollow stem members formed of a resinous material being detachably and interchangeably mounted in said frame member so as to extend through said interior space, one end of each of said stem members comprising a cellular material indicia bearing printing block positioned in essentially coplanar relationship with the printing block in said outer space. 

1. In a rubber stamper, the combination of a casing comprising an open-ended boxlike frame member defining two essentially coplanar spaces within the confines of said casing, a first one of said spaces comprising an interior space within said frame member, the second space comprising an outer space encompassing at least part of said interior space and separated therefrom by the walls of said boxlike frame member, an ink-impregnated wad and associated indicia bearing printing block means positioned in said outer space, sleeve means encompassing and connected to the open end of said frame member, said sleeve meAns including an inwardly extending peripheral flange adapted to engage the bottom edge of said printing block means so as to maintain the latter and said wad within said outer space, and a plurality of inkcontaining hollow stem members formed of a resinous material being detachably and interchangeably mounted in said frame member so as to extend through said interior space, one end of each of said stem members comprising a cellular material indicia bearing printing block positioned in essentially coplanar relationship with the printing block in said outer space. 